Nelson Nets 12 Points As 10th-Ranked Men's Basketball Sees School Record 12-Game Winning Streak Come To End With 66-42 Northeast-10 Setback At LeMoyne

January 19, 2006

STONEHILL MEN'S BASKETBALL

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Ted Grant Court, Syracuse, N.Y.

FINAL:LE MOYNE 66, STONEHILL 42

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- Junior Matt Cooper (Fulton, N.Y.) scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures as LeMoyne used a 56 percent shooting effort to snap 10th-ranked Stonehill's school-record 12-game winning streak with a 66-42 Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball victory Thursday evening at Ted Grant Court.

The host Dolphins (7-10, 3-10 Northeast-10) blistered the nets at a 64 percent clip in the opening 20 minutes of play, as LeMoyne jumped out to a 10-point lead (20-10) before the visiting Skyhawks (14-2, 10-2 Northeast-10) used a 12-2 run over a 5:05 stretch to close to within one at 23-22 on a jumper by senior Sean Nelson (Milford, Mass.). That would prove to be the final bucket of the half for Stonehill, however, as the Dolphins closed the half on a 15-0 run over the final 6:35 of action to take a 37-22 edge at the break, as the Skyhawks got no closer than 12 points in the final 20 minutes of action.

Senior Sid Pond (Watertown, N.Y.) added 12 points and eight rebounds in the win for LeMoyne, which also ended an eight-game Stonehill winning streak exactly one year ago with a victory over the Skyhawks in Easton. Sophomore Jason Holmes (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) chipped in with 11 points and four assists for the Dolphins, who also received 10 points and five boards from sophomore Dan Cromwell (Victor, N.Y.). The hosts used a commanding 40-16 rebounding edge (32-12 on the defensive glass alone) to hold Stonehill to a 31 percent shooting effort from the floor, as LeMoyne canned four three-pointers and recorded assists on 18 of its 24 field goals on the evening.

Nelson was the lone player in double figures with 12 points and three steals for Stonehill, as senior Marquis Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) chipped in with eight points and three steals for the Skyhawks, who also received six points and six assists from senior Chris Kraus (Markham, Ont.). Junior Soap Toun (Cranston, R.I.) and freshman Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) also added six points each for the visitors, who connected on only 2-of-21 attempts from three-point range for the contest in suffering their first setback in nearly two months, which came on November 22nd to then fifth-ranked Bentley.

Stonehill hosts Merrimack in a Northeast-10 outing on Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium beginning at 3:30 p.m., while LeMoyne heads to Rindge, N.H. to take on Franklin Pierce in a Northeast-10 match-up that also begins at 3:30 p.m.